Lisa Earle McLeod* has advice for people whose New Year intentions to be kinder, grateful and more connected with their colleagues have fallen by the wayside.
We’re well into the New Year, and for many of us our resolutions to be kinder, more grateful and more connected are falling by the wayside.
All hope is not lost. We can reclaim those good intentions with just a few intentional actions each day.
Here are four way to keep yourself grounded, grateful, kind and connected.
Embrace whole-person feedback
Much of workplace feedback is task-related and very behavioural.
It’s a good thing; people should know what is expected and how they are measuring up. Metrics and deliverables matter.
It’s also essential to layer on whole-person feedback (especially now).
Here’s why: Performance waxes and wanes.
There are times when someone will give it their all, being as creative, collaborative, and motivated as possible.
They do everything ‘right’ and still come up short because of the circumstances.
Tying our self-worth too closely to what we do puts us at risk for losing who we are.
You can circumvent this trap by adding whole-person positive feedback to your conversations. Here are some examples:
You always bring so much creativity to our team; I really appreciate that
You always have your teammate’s back
Your positive attitude makes people feel great
Send gratitude emails (early in the day)
If you’re feeling mentally drained, send five emails to people who you appreciate.
They don’t have to be long; just a sentence will do the trick.
You will feel immediately better after a few minutes reflecting on who you are grateful for and you’ll be put back into that headspace throughout the day as you get responses.
Doing this early in the morning sets you up for a more emotionally-grounded day.
Partake in positive-gossip
Positive gossip means hyping people up behind their back and making sure there’s buzz about how great they are.
It’s saying something like: “I had a meeting with so and so about marketing strategies for next year, she is so creative and nice, I really like working with her.”
If you had a great experience working with someone, tell other people. Better yet, tell their manager.
This scratches the itch to share our opinions and experiences of others with our friends without the negative repercussions of traditional (negative) gossiping.
Sing peer-to-peer praise
The great thing about peer-to-peer feedback is that there is no motive.
Your peers aren’t trying to suck up to you (like an employee to a boss) and they’re also not obliged to make sure you’re consistently getting feedback (like a boss to an employee).
If you see a peer rocking it, or heck, even managing to show up despite difficult circumstances, praise them for it.
This creates a ripple of goodwill through the organisation that crosses through many reporting lines and departments.
The world has been through the wringer.
As we continue face challenges, acknowledging the hard work of your team (and yourself) can help you approach the next few months with feelings of kindness and connectedness.
Who couldn’t use a little more of that?
*Lisa Earle McLeod is the leadership expert best known for creating the popular business concept Noble Purpose. She is the author of Selling with Noble Purpose and Leading with Noble Purpose. She can be contacted at mcleodandmore.com.
This article first appeared at mcleodandmore.com.
